American statisticians did not really get back into their stride on Tuesday after the long weekend. All they could come up with was the NAHB Housing Market Index, a monthly barometer of builders' activity and optimism.

The US dollar experienced some weakness at the beginning of the week. It seems that investors are cautiously optimistic about upcoming trade talks between the US and China but feel that there may be a long road ahead.

The Justice Department has charged Huawei, a Chinese tech company, with bank fraud, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy to launder money. For good measure, CFO Meng Wanzhou has also been charged and her extradition from Canada is sought..

Most of Wednesday' US statistics were of the ho-hum variety. MBA mortgage applications were up by 13.5%. Import and export prices were both down by an annual 0.6%. Crude oil stocks were down by 2.7m bbl on the week.

Things did not go well for the USD on Wednesday. Its principal handicap was the Federal Reserve but the president did nothing to lighten the mood when he stormed out of a discussion about the government shutdown...

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